Mary Lucia on tonight's Rock for Pussy IX, David Bowie, and "Cat People"

The best thing about Rock for Pussy is obviously that the charity event, now entering its ninth installment tonight, provides funds for local forlorn cats and kittens in need of a helping paw. But not far behind is that the event, organized by the Current's Mary Lucia and a team of musicians, has such a delightfully subversive name that a couple of area cat charities had to think twice about taking the funds -- but First Avenue insisted she keep the name.

Feline Rescue (click here for cute kitten pics) had no problem with a name that Lucia admits herself is smutty. But that's where the third impressive thing about this event comes into play -- the subtitling of the event, by the way, is Rebel Rebel: A Musical Tribute to David Bowie. Dozens upon dozens of David Bowie songs done up in glam spectacular style will hit the First Avenue stage tonight, and a cast of familiar faces will be covered in glitter to perform them in a fashion that Ziggy S. himself can appreciate.

A running joke has developed over the years regarding a 1982 Bowie track called "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)." From the Cat People film (and later Inglorious Bastards), the Giorgio Moroder-produced jam featuring the telling lyric "Putting out fire with gasoline" would seem to be the most thematically apt for the event, but has never been performed at a Rock for Pussy event, according to Lucia.

"It's like a taboo thing at this point," she says, during a call from her home she shares with two cats of her own. "No one has ever done it or even suggested it. Maybe next year."

For THIS year, though, with Bowie's overflowing trove of hits -- "Fame," "Let's Dance," "Space Oddity," and so on -- it's no surprise that no one picks the same song to cover. With this year being the 40th anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the John Eller-led troupe of more than 30 musicians and singers will perform the album in its entirety.

The absurdly long list of talent for the night is here, but some artists who have recently made the rounds in Gimme Noise include Steve Price, Christian Erickson, Laurie Lindeen, Venus DeMars Chastity Brown, Aby Wolf, Adam Levy, Dan Israel, and DJ Jake Rudh.

"Everyone wears makeup done by a salon and outrageous outfits," says Lucia, who will be backstage maneuvering all of the night's many performers with assistance from Current cohort David Campbell. "You'll have glitter on your face for the next five days."